Assessment of Multiple GNSS Real-Time SSR Products from Different Analysis Centers
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International Journal of Geo-Information Article Assessment of Multiple GNSS Real-Time SSR Products from Different Analysis Centers Zhiyu Wang 1,2, Zishen Li 1,*, Liang Wang 1,2,*, Xiaoming Wang 1,3 ID and Hong Yuan 1 1 Academy of Opto-Electronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 9 Dengzhuang South Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100094, China; [email protected] (Z.W.); [email protected] (X.W.); [email protected] (H.Y.) 2 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19A Yuquan Road, Shijingshan District, Beijing 100049, China 3 School of Environment and Spatial Informatics, China University of Mining and Technology, 1 Daxue Road, Xuzhou 221116, China * Correspondence: [email protected] (Z.L.); [email protected] (L.W.); Tel.: +86-10-8217-8896 (Z.L. & L.W.) Received: 15 January 2018; Accepted: 7 March 2018; Published: 8 March 2018 Abstract: The real-time State Space Representation (SSR) product of the GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) orbit and clock is one of the most essential corrections for real-time precise point positioning (PPP). In this work, the performance of current SSR products from eight analysis centers were assessed by comparing it with the final product and the accuracy of real-time PPP. Numerical results showed that (1) the accuracies of the GPS SSR product were better than 8 cm for the satellite orbit and 0.3 ns for the satellite clock; (2) the accuracies of the GLONASS (GLObalnaya NAvigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema) SSR product were better than 10 cm for orbit RMS (Root Mean Square) and 0.6 ns for clock STD (Standard Deviation); and (3) the accuracies of the BDS (BeiDou Navigation Satellite System) and Galileo SSR products from CLK93 were about 14.54 and 4.42 cm for the orbit RMS and 0.32 and 0.18 ns for the clock STD, respectively. The simulated kinematic PPP results obtained using the SSR products from CLK93 and CLK51 performed better than those using other SSR products; and the accuracy of PPP based on all products was better than 6 and 10 cm in the horizontal and vertical directions, respectively. The real-time kinematic PPP experiment carried out in Beijing, Tianjin, and Shijiazhuang, China indicated that the SSR product CLK93 from Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) had a better performance than CAS01. Moreover, the PPP with GPS + BDS dual systems had a higher accuracy than those with only a GPS single system. Keywords: precise point positioning; orbits and clocks; state space representation; analysis centers 1. Introduction Precise Point Positioning (PPP) is one of the most widely-used approaches for high-precision real-time positioning with the development of multi-frequency global navigation satellite systems (GNSS). However, the PPP approach relies heavily on the availability of the high-precision satellite orbit and clock corrections [1–9]. Currently, the International GNSS Service (IGS) agency and various analysis centers (ACs) provide users with precise satellite orbit and clock products through FTP (File Transfer Protocol) in three forms: ultra-rapid, rapid, and final [10–12]. The rapid and final orbit/clock products are available after around 17 h after the end of the previous UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) day and 13 days after the end of the solution week, respectively, which mean that they cannot be used for real-time applications [13]. Although ultra-rapid products are available for real-time applications, its accuracy is not good enough for high-precision PPP. Each ultra-rapid orbit file usually covers 48 h, but only the first 24 h of the orbit are generated using actual observations and the second 24 h are extrapolated using the first 24-h orbit. ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2018, 7, 85; doi:10.3390/ijgi7030085 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijgi ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2018, 7, 85 2 of 20 To meet the growing needs for real-time high-precision positioning and application, IGS founded a Real-Time Working Group in 2002 committed to the construction of infrastructure and to set up standards as well as technical specifications related to high-precision real-time GNSS [14]. In 2007, IGS started the Real-Time Pilot Project (RTPP) and has extended its capability to support applications requiring real-time access to IGS products since 2013 by providing GPS and GLONASS dual-system orbit and clock corrections based on RTCM (Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services) and NTRIP (Networked Transport of RTCM via Internet Protocol) [15–21]. Multi-GNSS real-time orbit and clock products are also making headways with the development of BDS and Galileo. Currently, there are a wide collection of real-time orbit and clock products for either GPS or GPS + GLONASS, developed by ACs such as BKG (Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie), CNES (Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales), DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt), ESA (European Space Agency), GFZ (Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum), and GMV (GMV Aerospace and Defense). CNES was the first to provide RTS for all four systems (GPS/GLONASS/BDS /GALILEO) since 2015 (IGS MAIL 7183). Moreover, China started the construction of the international GNSS Monitoring and Assessment System (iGMAS) in 2012. The main task of iGMAS was to (1) establish a worldwide near-real-time tracking network for BDS, GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo; (2) build an information service platform for data collection, storage, analysis, management, and publication; (3) monitor and assess the operation status and key performance indicators of all GNSS [22]. At present, there are 30 global tracking stations, three data centers and eight analysis centers that can provide precise products to support satellite navigation technology testing, monitoring assessment, scientific research, and various applications [23].The Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics (IGG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), one of the iGMAS analysis centers, is also beginning to develop multi-system real-time orbit and clock correction products with the advance of iGMAS. 2. The Acquisition of Real-Time Observation Data and State Space Representation Product It is critical for the real-time PPP to access real-time data and SSR products in an efficient way [8,11,16,18,21,24]. Accessing GNSS data via the Internet based on NTRIP has been widely used in many applications. For instance, it has been adopted in data transmission between CORS (Continuously Operating Reference Stations) servers and receivers. The NTRIP agreement, which officially became an RTCM standard in November 2004, is used for sending data streams in the format of RTCM 2.0 and 3.0. Real-time orbit and clock correction data generated by ACs in IGS-RTPP are released in SSR (State Space Representation) format in compliance with the RTCM standard and broadcasted via NTRIP (RTCM 2011). Figure1 shows the broadcasting, receiving, and precise positioning process of real-time GNSS data/products. The GNSS data transmission system based on NTRIP generally consists of four parts: the data source, server (NtripServer), broadcaster (NtripCaster), and client terminal (NtripClient). The table of data sources generated by NTRIP broadcasters contains general information about data sources including their ID, RTCM version, data type, etc. One can access this table via the Internet on a client terminal, and select proper mount points to obtain raw data or corrections from NTRIP data sources with a short latency [25]. BKG Ntrip Client (BNC) is one of the most widely-used software package for obtaining real-time data and products [20], but it only supports data decoding in the RTCM format, making it difficult to broadcast real-time products in the latest format. In light of this, the GNSS research group at the IGG of Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed an alternative software named IGG-Ntrip, which presents the following features: • Supports both RTCM and iGMAS formats; • Supports real-time data and products for four systems (GPS/GLONASS/BDS/GALILEO) with multiple addresses and mount points; • Provides a data sharing mechanism based on sharing memory and Socket; • A user-friendly graphic interface that allows users to select stations on a map; ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2018, 7, 85 3 of 20 ISPRSAll Int. theJ. Geo-Inf. real-time 2018, 7 data, x FOR and PEER products REVIEW used in this work were obtained via IGG-Ntrip. 3 of 19 Figure 1. Broadcasting, receiving, receiving, and and precise position positioninging process of real-time Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data/products. 3. Real-Time Precise Orbit and Clock Recovery 3. Real-Time Precise Orbit and Clock Recovery The real-time data streams from IGS/ACs provide corrections of orbits and clocks to broadcast The real-time data streams from IGS/ACs provide corrections of orbits and clocks to broadcast ephemeris. As above-mentioned, these corrections are essential for obtaining high-precision orbits ephemeris. As above-mentioned, these corrections are essential for obtaining high-precision orbits and and clocks for precise real-time PPP [10,26–28]. clocks for precise real-time PPP [10,26–28]. Real-time orbit corrections are provided in radial, along-track, and cross-track directions in a Real-time orbit corrections are provided in radial, along-track, and cross-track directions satellite-fixed coordinate system. Thus, it was necessary to first convert orbit corrections into an in a satellite-fixed coordinate system. Thus, it was necessary to first convert orbit corrections Earth-Fixed reference frame (ECEF) system, which was adopted for the positioning. RTCM-SSR into an Earth-Fixed reference frame (ECEF) system, which